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'Pay What You Can' restaurants sprout up across country to combat hunger

Posted: Jan 31 2017 01:37AM EST

Updated: Jan 31 2017 01:37AM EST

LOS ANGELES -

If you suffer from hunger because you can’t afford a meal, your options are limited. Accepting charity can be difficult and dining out is too expensive. Or is it?

Some big-hearted restaurateurs have come up with an incredible way to make a difference in their communities: Pay What You Can cafes are popping up all over the country.

The Washington Post explained, “They feed the needy and the non-needy side by side, giving low-income people the chance to eat a nutritious sit-down meal somewhere other than a soup kitchen.”

No two Pay What You Can restaurants are the same, but they all have one goal: to provide a space where people can come together and eat with dignity.

Of course, keeping the doors open on any restaurant is no easy task. For those with no set prices, it’s even more difficult. There’s the challenge of making sure that those who can afford to pay do pay-- and are willing to pay extra, while making sure that a “suggested price” doesn’t scare away those who wouldn’t be able to pay. However, owners agree that the impact they’ve made on their thousands of patrons is worth it.

If you’re interested in finding a restaurant, or intrigued by the idea of starting your own, go to oneworldeverybodyeats.org. There’s also an option to donate what you can to this remarkable effort to end hunger.